The Value of Resurrection

You probably celebrated Easter or Resurrection year after year. Someone in church would ask you to invite your friends to church. Deep inside you, the question lingers. Why do you celebrate resurrection Sunday? Why do you do what you do? What value is the resurrection to us today?

The Apostle Paul, after having an encounter with our risen Lord, took pains to learn about what he now believes in. He took time to be discipled by Ananias, then by Barnabas. He also spent time with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Then when the church in Corinth began to question the resurrection, if indeed it happened, Paul then took pains to write to them about the resurrection.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance…

Paul was saying, this information is important. We have to prioritize this. Learn this. Ponder on this. The point here is that the early church would pass on vital information among themselves. We should be passing on to others what is important to us. Are you passing on the message or are you simply being a benchwarmer in church?

What is it that we would pass on?

First, Christ died for our sins. Take time to study about the death of Christ. We have evidences in Scriptures that Christ indeed died for our sins. We also have evidences outside Scriptures showing that Jesus walked on this earth and died around 30AD.

Here’s the implication. Jesus existed. There is enough proof to claim that Christ died for our sins while we were yet sinners. It is a onetime event, not a yearly event. The men who would be nailed on the cross would not be sufficient because they are not sinless. We cannot save ourselves. We are not sufficient to do so. Only Christ can save.

Second, Jesus was buried. Only the dead is buried. We don’t bury those who are alive. According to the eyewitness testimony, Christ was beaten, tortured, lacerated, and stabbed. He suffered internal damage, massive blood loss, asphyxiation, and a spear through His heart. There is no good reason to believe that Jesus Christ (or any other man for that matter) could survive such an ordeal, fake His death, sit in a tomb for three days and nights without medical attention, food or water, remove the massive stone which sealed His tomb, escape undetected (without leaving behind a trail of blood), convince hundreds of eyewitnesses that He was resurrected from the death and in good health, and then disappear without a trace.

The implication is this. Jesus died. He was indeed full – man. human. He can relate to pain and suffering since He himself endured it. We can come to him with what is troubling us. We can grieve, and mourn, but we know it is not the end.

Third. He was raised on the third day. The question we asked ourselves is this. Did he really rise?